(1) FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus with a self-monitoring television device, and more particularly to a photographing apparatus of the above-noted type comprising a still camera and a video camera sharing a same photographic lens unit each other and a monitoring television device for forming an image from video signals generated from the video camera, with the still camera, the video camera and the monitoring television device all being accommodated inside a housing.
(2) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
There is disclosed a photographing apparatus with a self-monitoring device for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,261, which apparatus is for use in succesively photographing a great number of people one by one for obtaining their portrait photographs to be used in a school-graduation memorial photo album or to be attached to a name card or an ID card. This apparatus includes at a front face of its body a concave mirror acting as a monitoring screen, whereby a user (photographic object) may take a photography of his own by using a long-wired shutter release button while monitoring his self image on the screen.
However, this apparatus has drawbacks to be described next. That is, it is impossible for this apparatus to avoid occurence of differences between the image on the concave mirror and the actually photographed image, i.e. the occurence of parallax, which need be corrected. For this reason, there is provided an arrangement so that the convex mirror is adapted to be movable and the same is preliminarily adjusted towards the position of the photographic object. In spite of such arrangement, there is still the necessity of a troublesome operation for readjusting the direction of the concave mirror in order to correct the above-noted parallex each time the position of the photographic object is changed.
In addition, in the case of the convex mirror, it is inherently impossible to avoid image distortions whatever small curvature ratio is provided to the mirror face. That is to say, it is impossible for the concave mirror to accurately monitor the actual image of the object and there is always a difference between the actual image and the photographed image. In other words, the concave mirror when used for monitoring only serves for making it possible for the user (photographic object) to make sure of approximate photographable range.
Moreover, since this apparatus is not of the single lens reflex type, it is difficult to exchange lenses, which adds to the above inconvenience.
With view to the above-described prior-art problems, the present applicant developed and provided a photographing apparatus capable of solving the above problems, which invention is disclosed in a Japanese patent application published under SHOWA 61-177872.
Referring more particularly to this apparatus with reference to FIG. 20, this photographing apparatus comprises a still camera and a video camera (not shown) sharing a photographic lens 7 and a monitoring television device 8 for transducing into a photographic image video signals of photographic information obtained by the above video camera, with the still camera, video camera and the monitoring television device 8 all being accommodated inside a housing 6.
The still camera and the video camera are constructed such that their photographic optical paths may be changed over by a movable mirror provided rearwardly of the photographic lens 7 or the optical paths may be used as they are by providing a half-mirror.
Optical beam reflected by the movable mirror or passing the half-mirror, further passes a reducing lens to be formed as an image on a photographing face of a solid-state photographic element and then monitored in a laterally reversed form thereof on the monitoring screen 8 provided adjacent the photographic lens 7. In case there is provided the movable mirror, this mirror is retracted from the photographic optical path in the course of a photographing operation and the image is imprinted on a film face togetherwith identification data.
However, in the case of the above-described photographing apparatus, there is limit for the size of the monitoring screen. And also, since the photographic object is typically distant by 2 m from the apparatus, although the user (photographic object) may roughly observe his position, size and facial expressions on the monitored image, close and fine observation is impossible.
As the result, there is always possibility that the photography developed later turns out to be unsatisfactory in spite of the monitoring.
In view of the above-described state of the art, It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved photographing apparatus with a self-monitoring television device capable of solving the above drawbacks of the prior art apparatuses.